The little things make a big difference. Professional whitewater kayaker and Recover Ambassador Kalob Grady gives us the rundown on one of his Recover Sustainability Tips: Travel with Your Mug.
Before we get to your Sustainability Tip, can you give us a little personal introduction… What do you do for work/ play/ life?
My name’s Kalob Grady, I’m 24 and Canadian. I am the head coach for World Class Academy (WCA), an international, kayaking-focused high school, and I also instruct for the Ottawa Kayak school in youth development positions in my free time. I am equally passionate about coaching the next generation of kayakers as I am on my own skill development and river stewardship. In my role at World Class, I also teach Environmental Science, using the destinations we travel to as real life laboratories and case studies to support our goal in learning how to produce a sustainable world for the future. Outside of work, I travel to achieve my own personal goals and create media with my partners at SEND, a collaboration between my 3 best friends and I. I am almost exclusively on the road with WCA, or SEND and enjoy being able to jump on every new opportunity as it arises, striving to be the most environmentally-conscious member of the river community that I can be.
What is your Recover Sustainability Tip for this month?
Travel with a Mug: Embracing constant movement essentially the entire year- and being addicted to caffeine, travelling with my own coffee mug is my Sustainability Tip #1. At the airport, on the road or heading to a meeting, being able to cut the need of single use plastic/paper/Styrofoam cups out of my day is an easy step to take for our planet. This can go one step further in using your coffee/tea mug as a vessel for even water when you need to, eliminating the number of plastic bottles consumed.
Why is this tip important?
I believe this tip is important because at the very least, it makes you aware of how many single use cups are used every day. I find this most apparent when experiencing air travel, when on a simple 45 minute flight alone, everyone on the plane uses 1-2 plastic cups for water/juice/coffee. Being able to fill the same, reusable mug over and over again steadily reduces the amount of waste you produce on your travels. Just imagine if airlines served beverages on all the flights as they do now, but required you to have your own cup/mug. The number of plastic cups ending up in our landfills and/or oceans would be drastically reduced from only a single industry.
Why do you work with Recover?
I work with Recover because they are a company that believes in a lot of the core values I believe in as a kayaker, outdoorsman, and environmentally-conscious consumer. They create high quality and environmentally friendly products, all the while trying to educate others on the importance of curating a sustainable future. By leading by example, Recover attracts like-minded souls that love the outdoors, and inspires all to work together in limiting our environmental impact. As the apparel industry has been, and still as a whole is incredibly damaging to the planet, I enjoy working with Recover as they take steps to make this planet a better place for the next generation.
What’s your favorite piece of Recover gear?
My title of “favorite” currently belongs to the Recover Sunset Pullover Hoodie. I still can’t believe how soft, warm, and cozy this blended fabric of recycled plastic and upcycled cotton is.
